


Seasons Change

by perniciousLizard



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Post-Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 19:18:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5796658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perniciousLizard/pseuds/perniciousLizard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Underground, one day is pretty much like the next one.  This is a short piece about various characters reacting to the changing seasons for the first time, or for the first time in a long time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seasons Change

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for day two of a "change" themed 30 Day challenge. The whole challenge is [here](https://alloftheseprompts.wordpress.com/2015/12/30/30-day-challenge-writing-about-change/) and all the entries I've finished are [here](http://it-refused.tumblr.com/tagged/30-day-change). 
> 
>  
> 
> **"Write about the changing seasons."**

 

Seasons never changed, underground.  There was always snow in Snowdin, water was always falling in Waterfall, and you didn’t get cool, pleasant days in Hotland.  

Above ground, weather reports said “there’s a _chance_ of rain today” and “the temperature _might_ get as low as 5 degrees” and so on.  If there was a chance of rain, a monster could bring an umbrella with them, and maybe they never ended up using it!  

Leaves fell off trees, and then bright new green ones showed up next year. There were a few older monsters who remembered, but most of the people who came to the surface had only ever read about the seasons.

–

Toriel remembered, but there was a difference between memory and reality. Reality was brighter and sweeter than any nostalgic haze could give her.  She wondered how long it would be before she was grumbling along with the humans at the sudden turns in the weather, complaining about the heat in the worst of the summer and the cold in the winter.  It seemed like it would be ungrateful, but at the same time, it would feel wonderful to be so settled and sure of her place on the surface.  

One morning, she woke to the front door slamming so loud the house shook.  She bolted out of bed and ran downstairs, gearing up to use her magic – but what kind?  Were they being invaded?  Had poor Frisk had another nightmare, but this one frightened them so much they ran straight out of the house?  

Her human child was right outside the door, kneeling in six inches of snow in their _pajamas_ with a winter coat unzipped over them, trying to push snow into a pile. 

She stood on the steps and realized she hadn’t even put on a house coat before she barreled down the stairs.  What were the neighbors thinking?  Her pajamas had the words “Sleep well” written on them, over a picture of a well.  It had been a gift, and she loved it, but she didn’t want everyone to see her in it.  

There had been nothing on the news about snow overnight, so she imagined Frisk must have glanced out the window when they woke up and gotten excited.  She decided she couldn’t get mad at them for that.  

She tried to look a little stern, her hands on her hips.  "My dear, you can play in the snow later, after you’ve changed into something warmer.“  She didn’t know how the child stood it, without any fur.  

They ran over, covered from head to toe in snow, and gave her a hug. Children were, as always: wet, messy, unpredictable, and a complete delight.  

–

Sans’ memories of above ground were fragmented and strange.  There had been resets, and he mostly had a picture or two to remind him.  He knew every inch of the underground, and he would look at those pictures and see places he didn’t know and get angry about them being taken from him, until that anger melted away into exhaustion.  

The first year above ground was a waiting game – when would the reset come?  What innocuous but important moment would he be torn out of the middle of?  Heat and cold didn’t bother him, but the first summer he kept thinking "it’s going to happen now.  it’s going to get cold because i’ll be back in snowdin and it’s going to be all over.”

Every season that passed after that was a gift.  When Frisk grew into an adult, Sans thought “no one wants to go through puberty twice” and relaxed, just a little bit more.  They saw the kiddo with the human and monster friends they had only made after they had come above ground, and he thought “they wouldn’t want to lose them.” He might never be able to relax completely, but eventually, it was enough so that he didn’t think about it all the time.  

He loved the sound of rain tapping on his skull, and went out in it if he had a chance.  The best rains were the ones that came in mid-spring – hard and driving, and the weather was warm enough that there was no risk of ice or snow mixed in with it.  It sunk into the hungry ground and the grass was so searingly bright when the sun came out again, even a skeleton had to dig out a pair of sunglasses to protect their eye sockets from the glare.  

–

Papyrus loved all the seasons, but summer was objectively the best one.  That was when you could do most of the really cool stuff that cool guys do, like drive fast cars with the hood down (and without your passengers with skin complaining) and go to the beach (he was learning to surf!) and have outdoor barbecues with all your cool friends.  

He was never sad when he saw the leaves change, though, because it was just so amazing to see.  It was also easier to get his friends with lots of fur to come outside and spend time with him.  He wanted to spend time with all his friends, not just the ones who liked the heat, so he was never going to complain because summer was ending.

Winter was amazing because it reminded him of his home in Snowdin  _and_ it turned out there were a million fun things to do in winter that he heard about from the humans.  He learned to ski and drive a snowmobile!  That was also the absolute best time of the year to eat pasta, because eating hot pasta during the cold months of the year was the most amazing idea he had ever heard of and it was easy to convince everyone to come inside and experience the best meal they had ever had.  Made by him, of course, the great Papyrus!

Spring could get kind of muddy and disgusting, but it was when Sans was happiest, so it was impossible to dislike it.  Papyrus bought a series of increasingly insistent door mats that told the reader (Sans!) to wipe their feet (It was always, _always_ Sans who did not do this!), but mopped the floor three times a day anyway. One time he had to mop up the words “sorry bro” that Sans had traced in the tracks he had left on the kitchen floor.  

Papyrus changed his mind, which was what cool intelligent skeletons like him did when they realized something new.  Every season was the best season, but for different reasons!  Wowie!  

–

Every year, color exploded on the trees and the sight of it would fill Undyne with such an intense passion she would propose to Alphys all over again.

“Uh…w-we already did that two years ago, but…but I’m flattered and…m-maybe we could go somewhere nice for dinner?”

Anniversaries weren’t _quite_ as good as actual weddings, but they ate at their favorite place even though crowds of people made Alphys nervous and she always looked so hot Undyne wanted to punch a wall when she saw her.  Sometimes she’d punch a tree and colored leaves would rain down on the two of them, which Alphys thought was almost as romantic as cherry blossoms.  

When all the leaves fell, it was still amazing, because you couldn’t do anything subtly or quietly.  You walked and it was CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH under your feet, and it got you pumped for everything!  Work, cooking dinner, training, sitting around with your wife, you were 100% there for it!  

It was like everything was dying off for winter but it wasn’t going to go quietly!  It was going to make you remember it!  It was a blaze of glory, before the end!  


End file.
